I am having a hard time getting excited for tomorrow's race. Last Sunday I did exercises in the water that entirely F'd up my entire musculoskeletal alignment and brought back symptoms I have not had in MANY months. I am only about 80% recovered. I am pretty sure I will not be finishing the 8k (running that is). But that IS fine with me, because my number one goal is ALWAYS avoid injury and avoid pain.
It's hard not to want to actually "race" at a "race" -but it is VERY important to me to always be a qualitative runner and not a quantitative runner. There will always be races. I really like what my running buddy (migangelo) said once on the Barefoot Runners Society, “I want to train to run for life, not one race” –that is very insightful and I think of it often when I start slipping out of my qualitative frame of mind. My new MT also reinforces this line of thinking in that he tells me that he is fine with people doing any exercises/sports/etc. that they want, with whatever physical obstacles they have, as long as I am doing them with quality in mind, and not quantity.
I was highly attuned to my body before I became a barefoot runner, but being barefoot has helped my brain tune in even more-so, to the feedback my body gives me. I assume this is because the increased feedback it gets from the bottom of my feet fires up the entire nervous system and makes it more sensitive to feedback from other parts of my body- which makes sense if you follow foot reflexology.
I am also distressed because next month’s race, Cinco De Mayo, was supposed to be my first 10k. I am most likely not going to be able to run that race at all because my monthly friend will probably visit right about then, and for those of you that don’t know, women’s bodies release a hormone during that time called, conveniently, “Relaxin” that does what it implies and basically turns your muscles to mush. Depending on a variety of factors, it can lead to a higher likelihood of injuries –especially since you actually need strength to hold your ligaments, and therefore your joints, in place. I have significant imbalances in my body that look for opportunities of weakness to rear their ugly heads and I have no plans to give them that opportunity by running during that time. I don’t do any exercise during that time except walking because my muscles become THAT weak.
I also was going to sign up for this obnoxious obstacle course made entirely of hills –but I’ve changed my mind. I am definitely not ready for that. It would require one month of hard core purposeful training, but my body is not even back to proper alignment at this time (and it’s a month away). So sadly, I have to miss it, but I will also be avoiding a lot of pain.
It's hard not to want to actually "race" at a "race" -but it is VERY important to me to always be a qualitative runner and not a quantitative runner. There will always be races. I really like what my running buddy (migangelo) said once on the Barefoot Runners Society, “I want to train to run for life, not one race” –that is very insightful and I think of it often when I start slipping out of my qualitative frame of mind. My new MT also reinforces this line of thinking in that he tells me that he is fine with people doing any exercises/sports/etc. that they want, with whatever physical obstacles they have, as long as I am doing them with quality in mind, and not quantity.
I was highly attuned to my body before I became a barefoot runner, but being barefoot has helped my brain tune in even more-so, to the feedback my body gives me. I assume this is because the increased feedback it gets from the bottom of my feet fires up the entire nervous system and makes it more sensitive to feedback from other parts of my body- which makes sense if you follow foot reflexology.
I am also distressed because next month’s race, Cinco De Mayo, was supposed to be my first 10k. I am most likely not going to be able to run that race at all because my monthly friend will probably visit right about then, and for those of you that don’t know, women’s bodies release a hormone during that time called, conveniently, “Relaxin” that does what it implies and basically turns your muscles to mush. Depending on a variety of factors, it can lead to a higher likelihood of injuries –especially since you actually need strength to hold your ligaments, and therefore your joints, in place. I have significant imbalances in my body that look for opportunities of weakness to rear their ugly heads and I have no plans to give them that opportunity by running during that time. I don’t do any exercise during that time except walking because my muscles become THAT weak.
I also was going to sign up for this obnoxious obstacle course made entirely of hills –but I’ve changed my mind. I am definitely not ready for that. It would require one month of hard core purposeful training, but my body is not even back to proper alignment at this time (and it’s a month away). So sadly, I have to miss it, but I will also be avoiding a lot of pain.
